"What on earth is a Wiki"? I asked, as I looked upon out assignment this week. Sure I've heard of Wikipedia but really wasn't sure what it was or how it worked.
So I read the articles suggested and learned about the Hawaiian origin of the word and visited a few related sites, including Wikipedia and now I feel that I know a little bit more about what it is exactly, in terms of the Internet and our Web 2.0 training.
The pluses of Wikis, obviously are that you can get reams of information online about any given topic, from several different sources. Anyone is free to add, delete or revise the content, which is a pretty interesting concept; talk about "Free Speech"!
I looked up "Meal Worm Beetles" through Wikipedia, because my daughter had to bring home one of these amazing yet horribly ugly creatures home for her grade 2 Science Project and now that it's turned into a beetle, none of us knows what to feed it or how long it lives or what to do with it, really. I found tons of great easy to read info and links about these weird creatures and all was very relevant.
The negatives of Wikis, obviously are that you can get reams of information online about any given topic, from several different sources and anyone is free to add, delete or revise the content. Are you suffering from deja vu? You may be, because I wrote the same phrase under the pluses of Wikis. Sure it's great that anyone can play with the content, but it's also not great. I would tend not to trust the validity of most info I found, especially if one is looking for something really important like medical symptoms and diagnoses or something serious like that. But then again, many people do have wonderful knowledge to share and this is a fantastic venue to do so. As I am arguing my own points now, perhaps I should quit while I'm ahead...
...How can wikis benefit my organisation? I sure didn't know about Mfagan wiki - a list of data sources surrounding Waterloo that have a geographic component. All of those links are VERY relevant and useful as resources to community links, to assist our clients. I could create a wiki for other Employment Advisors working in the field and we could continuously add and update information as we got it. I could start a wiki for our clients who are looking for work, and list some great contacts and reference information. Downside? Anyone could conceivably come in and delete any or all content (from what I understand), or could place false or inaccurate information or negative content in the wiki, thereby devaluing the site and the content and possibility the reputation of the organisation as well. Now THAT wouldn't be good.
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Beetles eh? Ewwwww! You are braver than I, no way would I allow bugs in my house on purpose, icky! Lol.
You have some really great ideas for how to use wikis in your workplace. The great thing about say an Employment Advisors wiki is that as people within the community find relevant information or organizations that helped them, they can post it too. They can also post reviews of information you have posted eg. If they found something particularly useful. And, there are many security features available for wikis. Fore example, if you set up a wiki, you could always make contributors register so that you can track who is writing what. And of course, careful monitoring of what is written is also important.
Jenny
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